The Good N'ewes for September 2024 | |
Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Nashua, New Hampshire | |
What Stewardship Means to Me:
Mini Essays by Stewardship, Staff, and Clergy
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Stephanie Khoyi
*created all the graphics for this year's pledge campaign and serves on Stewardship
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I’m going to be honest, before coming to CGS I had no idea what stewardship was. I knew a basic definition of the word, but that doesn’t always translate to true understanding. My journey with stewardship started with the time and talent sheet that was passed out last year. I marked that I was interested in learning more about it and then I got a call from Pastor Kathy. I am a person of many talents and less treasure. I still wanted to give back to this community where I had found a spiritual home, so I joined the stewardship team. You may have seen some of my artwork in last year’s pledge campaign, along with this year's.
What I have learned about stewardship is that it is a way of focusing our resources to where they are needed to care for our people and property. I worry often about the shame that surrounds giving. I don’t want anyone to feel ashamed if they don’t have money to give. Money is just, for many, the simplest way to contribute to this community. To put it in perspective, what we need is time, talent, and treasure. These things need to be in balance for stewardship to work. If no one has time, nothing will get done before it is too late. If our community doesn’t apply their talents, it costs a lot more treasure to compensate to pay others outside the church to do things for us. Lastly, without treasure, we need so many more people with the right talent and a lot of time to compensate for it. All three forms of giving are important so that we may function at our best. Each of us has something to contribute; even if it seems small by itself, it adds up when put together.
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Susan Nutting
*received a Shepherd's commendation this last year for her service and serves on Stewardship
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It wasn’t until I was elected to the Vestry that I began thinking of stewardship as more than just financial giving. As I learned about the various tasks and responsibilities of lay leadership, I discovered that stewardship is a powerful path to spiritual growth, particularly when it involves financial generosity.
I had heard phrases like “give until it hurts” and understood the concept of tithing, but I hadn’t considered the spiritual gifts that would come from discerning my annual pledge amount. At its core, stewardship invites us to trust God more deeply. Just as spiritual growth calls us to trust in God's plan, financial giving asks us to step out in faith, believing that God will continue to provide even as we give generously. This trust draws us closer to God and strengthens our faith. For me, this leap of faith was key to the deeper spiritual growth I had been seeking.
Financial giving also mirrors the spiritual practice of surrender. Just as we are called to surrender control in our spiritual lives, financial giving asks us to sacrifice personal comfort for the sake of God's kingdom. This act of sacrifice aligns our priorities with God's and fosters a deeper connection with Him.
Both spiritual growth and stewardship require discipline. Through regular prayer and intentional giving, we cultivate a heart of gratitude, recognizing that everything we have is a gift from God. Ultimately, financial generosity transforms both the giver and the community, deepening our relationship with God and allowing us to participate in His work. It did for me, and I hope it will for you, too.
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Johanna Graves
*has sung in choir for years and serves on Stewardship
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For me, the work of stewardship is synonymous with the work of loving; each other, the church, the land and all creation. How can we say that we are doing what God has asked of us, to care for (steward) all that we have been gifted by God, if we are not caring for all of everything? I know it seems to be an enormous, overwhelming task. God, though, does not do the spiritual equivalent of throwing a small child into the pool to teach them to swim. We are taught in small steps, and God teaches us to grow in our faith and our care.
I was once taught that I was not being a faithful giver unless my bank account was whimpering. I no longer believe this. I do, however, believe that my giving should stretch my faith, that I need to give enough that it requires trust. Not in the fallible human beings who distribute that money once it belongs to the church, but in God, to direct that money where it needs to be even if I cannot see its true purpose. That God is in charge, and any money I give is not "wasted" but given back to God as a true and genuine gift, no strings left attached to my control.
We are called to give not just so the lights stay on, but so that we can collectively create a greater impact together than we ever could apart. We give to love each other well and steward our community; trusting that God is guiding our care for God's creation (in which we are included.)
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Deacon Nancy Mayer
*Tireless steward of us all but especially our old and young
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When I think about stewardship, I think of the parable of the talents.1 In this parable the master gives five, two or one talents.2 As you might remember, the servant with five talents makes five more and the servant with two talents makes two more. They are praised by the master, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” The servant with one talent was afraid of the master and buried the talent. He returns the one talent to the master who immediately takes the talent and gives it to the servant with ten talents.
I see stewardship as being like the servants with the talents. We are to use the gifts God has given us to care for God’s creation, each other, and the Church. I ask myself, “am I using my talents for the betterment of the creation, of all people, and of the Church or am I hiding them?”
During this stewardship time you might review how you are using the gifts God has given you.
I am sure we all would like to hear, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”
1 Matthew 25:14-30
2 a talent was worth more than fifteen years’ wages of a laborer
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George Swenson
*Busy building relationships with our Youth, developing bible studies, and completing his training for the priesthood
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Stewardship for me is about sharing with the community that I love.
Prior to entering the ordination process, I was a member of Grace Church in Concord. When I was there, I gave a lot of my time and spiritual gifts to the church and sometimes people in my life outside the church would wonder "why?" The answer was always simple; this is my home, and these people are my family, of course I am going to share what I have with them.
Sharing is relational. When we share what we have, we become connected to those we are sharing with. This relationship with those around us, with the earth and our community, can be profoundly transformative. Through connection we experience moments that can break us open to allow us to see and feel God’s love more deeply around us.
Stewardship invites us to consider how we are invited to share not just our resources but ourselves, with our neighbor, our community, our planet, and with God.
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Sue Corman, Senior Warden
*Tireless worker for the good of Good Shepherd, on the Vestry and organizing activities and events
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Mention Stewardship and most people will try not to make eye contact with you. We equate Pledging with Stewardship. To me, however, Stewardship is so much more than the money, (not that pledging is not crucial). I consider myself to be a Steward, as defined as “A person whose responsibility is to take care of something;” a guardian. I care for many things, all of God’s gifts. I also care for our parish very deeply. I serve on committees, usher during worship, and volunteer my time to CGS in many other ways. This is how I Steward at CGS; this is how I care for our community.
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Sovereign
We name you king, Lord, sovereign.
We trust you, except
sometimes we do not.
We take matters into our own hands.
We fashion power and authority and sovereignty,
endorsed by law and bureaucracy and weapons,
we think to make ourselves safe.
And then learn, staggeringly,
how insufficient is our product,
how thin is our law,
how ineffective is our bureaucracy,
how impotent our weapons.
We are driven back to you – your will,
your purposes,
your requirements:
care for land
care for neighbor
care for future.
We name you king, Lord, sovereign –
so undemocratic!
and in naming become aware of our status
before you... loved, sent, summoned.
We pray in the name of the loved, sent, summoned Jesus.
– Walter Brueggemann, Prayers for a Privileged People
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